Arifian, Gregory, Carbon Footprinting: Using Carbon Emissions
Analysis to Achieve Energy Independence, Proceedings,
WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
Management and
reduction of carbon emissions is quickly becoming a reality in
California. In recent times, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency
has taken a major step towards addressing this new reality by
completing a carbon footprint for its operations. The agency is a regional
water supplier and wastewater treatment organization, but energy demands
represent most of the agency’s
carbon footprint. Thus, fully understanding those emissions
will help prioritize future projects and reduce long term
energy demands.

The EPA watershed approach to facilities planning has been completed in
southeastern Wisconsin by the Milwaukee sewerage district in partnership
with the regional 208 planning agency. Aspects of the watershed project
included nonpoint pollution control, eliminating sanitary sewer overflows,
point source control, and similar measures. Community stakeholders were
included by such means as a workshop on TMDL development. A series of technical
improvements were studied for achieving project goals. The implementation
plan included guidance about use of green infrastructure, citizen input
from the watershed and agricultural stakeholders, and the use of permitting
and trading options.

Conrads, Paul, et al, Maximizing Data Collection Networks by Using
Data-Mining Techniques—A Case Study in the Florida Everglades,
Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
The sustainable development of water resources requires the understanding
of the interaction between natural processes of ecological systems and
the social and economic drivers of societal systems. To understand the
interaction between these systems, data collection networks are needed
to provide quantification of the anthropogenic influences on natural systems.
Data mining techniques can be used in cases where many disparate databases
are the only alternative, and where it is necessary to maximize their utility.
Data mining employs methods for maximizing the information content of data,
determining which variables have the strongest relationships to problems
of interest, and developing simulation models to analyze systems. This
body of methods was applied to hydrologic and ecologic databases in the
Everglades. The results showed that critical habitat can be preserved using
a minimum of existing data, to achieve overall goals.

Finley, T., Leathers, G., and Zhang, H. X., Use of the WBCSD
Global Water Tool to Assess Global Water Supply Risk and Gain Valuable
Strategic Perspective, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment
Federation, October 2008.

Water
availability and the ability to discharge are growing issues
for businesses around the world. Access to water of sufficient
quality and quantity has emerged as a critical issue affecting
economic activity, development, and business on every continent.
There is a growing need for a practical tool that can map water
use and effectively assess water risks for industries, especially
global companies and organizations with operations and suppliers
in numerous countries. Such a tool has been developed by the WorldBusiness
Council for Sustainable Development, and can be used by global
companies to identify, prioritize, and manage water risks.
This is a public-domain and easy to use tool that allows companies
or organizations to map their water uses and risks relative
to water availability in their global operation and supply
chains.

Fono, Lorien, et al, Water Resources Protection as a Driver for Wastewater
Project Selection, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation,
October 2008.
As the world’s
demand for water supplies increases and climate change threatens to further reduce
water availability, the lines between wastewater treatment and water supply are
becoming less well-defined. The community of Los Osos in California relies on
its lower aquifer water for its drinking water supply, and on septic tanks for
wastewater disposal. It is located adjacent to the Morro Bay National Estuary.
Both these strategies are now reaching the limits of use. Because the community
desired to solve its problems within its own region, a new approach was needed
that could address both aspects of the problem. This approach was technically
challenging, and had to account for seawater intrusion as well as water and wastewater
requirements. A balance seems to be possible that will account for all these
needs, that will require use of such methods as a collection system, agricultural
and urban reuse, and reduction of landscape irrigation.

Garvey, Elisa, et al, Supporting Implementation of Sustainability
Concepts Using a System-Wide Modeling Approach - - Inland
Empire Utilities Agency Case Study, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water
Environment Federation, October 2008.
In
the water and wastewater industry, there are opportunities
to implement concepts of sustainability related to facilities
planning and operations. Specifically, the water and wastewater
industry can implement measures to protect the environment,
its natural resource base and the viability of natural systems.
This idea incorporates sustainability concepts through maximizing
system-wide capacity, maximizing opportunities for recycled
water use, and maximizing the use of on-site cogeneration facilities.
A systems optimization model is used to support strategic decision-making
with respect to system operation and facilities planning. The
model simulates real-world wastewater flow routing, treatment
plant operation, energy management, and recycle-disposal operation.
The overall concept includes the use of system modeling to
carry out more sustainable strategies by better use of available
technology.

Gluck, Steven J., Strategic Sustainable Solutions: What Works
and What Doesn’t, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment
Federation, October 2008.
Large
technology-driven companies have both responsibilities and
opportunities to use water resources wisely. This involves
careful use of water by conservation, as well as responsible
control of contaminants in discharge streams by pollution control.
The chemical industry is an example of an industry that carries
out this kind of activity, as illustrated in the paper.

Harper, Stephen, et al, Analysis of Nutrient Removal Costs in the
Chesapeake Bay Program and Implications for the Mississippi-Atchafalaya
River Basin, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation,
October 2008.
The paper
examines construction-level costs for fifty wastewater nutrient removal projects
constructed or under construction in Virginia and Maryland. The data is used
to extrapolate possible costs to achieve EPA goals that aim to address the
hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. The large costs for removal of just one
part of the nutrient load to such natural systems argues for careful weighing
of management options. Options might include, for example, nutrient credit
trading programs that draw agricultural sources into the decision mix. A major
conclusion is that the Gulf case is so large as to constitute a national rather
than a regional issue.

Hudson, Joyce, and Robert J. Freeman, Encouraging Green Development
withDecentralized Wastewater Approaches, Proceedings,
WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
The
population of the United States is projected to increase
40 percent from 2006 to 2050, approximately 120 million people.
That growth will bring a substantial increase in demand for
infrastructure—housing, transportation, water and wastewater,
and all the support structure for modern civilization. The
resulting demand on existing natural resources will be seen
in areas such as energy consumption, water use, and land
use. The pressure on the existing environment from this development
will manifest itself in the health of our watersheds, surface
and ground water quantity and quality, health of plant and
animal ecosystems, air quality, and the overall quality of
life. To mitigate this situation, EPA national strategy development
in the Southeast U.S. emphasizes decentralized/cluster wastewater
approaches.

Kenel, Pamela P., et al, Sustainability Metrics: Applications
for Utility Planning, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment
Federation, October 2008.
Around
the globe, utilities are faced with the need to assess the
sustainability of their water management practices and operations.
To prepare for future conditions, some utilities are developing
specific protocols and practices for evaluating sustainability.
Sustainability assessments are value-based, descriptive processes
that may be used as a basis for making decisions such as
the size, location, timing, and cost of new facilities, as
well as for prioritization of recommendations. In most cases,
present sustainability metrics are associated with triple
bottom line evaluations, and the sustainability criteria
are divided into economic, social, and economic categories.

Kepke, Jacqueline, et al, Developing an Integrated Water Servicing
Strategy for Infill Development: Botany Case Study in Sydney, Australia,
Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
The Sydney
metropolitan area is currently undergoing significant expansion. At the same
time, the effects of climate change are already being felt in Australia, with
a severe drought driving the need to provide water, wastewater, and stormwater
service for new development using an integrated and sustainable water resource
approach. The integrated servicing strategy involves the steps of: reviewing
completed work; engaging stakeholders; revising demands and flow projections;
and other steps that compare demand with existing capacity and define a preferred
strategy. This strategy provides a roadmap that has proven useful in creating
sustainable use of water in actual areas.

Kulkarni, A.A., and S.P. Aggarwal, Site Suitability
Analysis of Water Conservation Structures for Sub-Watershed in Ujjani
Catchment, India—A
Geospatial Approach, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation,
October 2008.
Water scarcity
has been widely called the top global issue of concern in the coming century,
in developed and developing countries alike. By 2025, it is estimated that
about 3 billion people will suffer from water scarcity. Using national guidelines,
this study has been carried out for the selection of various water conservation
structures. Applications in such remote rural areas is perhaps one of the most
critical problems facing the world. Remote sensing techniques permitted the
development of thematic layers like drainage, slope, runoff, and village buffer
areas, all of which would be at best difficult on the ground. Use of multi
criteria analysis made it possible to develop from the data layers a series
of suitable sites for various water conservation structures. The results made
it possible to consider a wide variety of variables in a complex region of
difficult access, and to do this in a timely, cost-effective way.

Li, Susanna, et al, Pilot Testing of Zero-Liquid-Discharge
Technologies Using BrackishGround Water for Inland Desert
Communities, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation,
October 2008.
In
response to greater demands for potable water in the service
area, the Indian Wells Valley Water District in the Mojave
Desert of California identified desalination of brackish
ground water as one potential new source water. The proposed
source contains a number of contaminants of concern. This
inland community has to consider a zero-liquid-discharge
solution for any desalters built. Evaluation of this approach
is underway. The key objective is to determine the technical
viability of using known technologies to maximize water recovery.
Ability to fully utilize water is a core property of sustainability.

Minarik, Thomas, et al, Dissolved Oxygen in the Chicago Area Waterway
System - Using a CDOM Program to Support Water Quality Improvement Efforts, Proceedings,
WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
The Chicago
area waterway system consists of 78 miles of canals, which serve the area for
drainage of urban storm water runoff and treated municipal effluent. Over the
years, a variety of factors has caused dissolved oxygen in the system to fall
below established standards. Technical changes using artificial aeration systems
have been added. Later measurements revealed that the dissolved oxygen was
still below standards, and a model was developed to better assess the problem.
Use of this approach made it possible to determine how to better meet standards
using supplemental aeration plus flow augmentation in the system.

Mosteller, Kevin, et al, Balancing the Three Pillars of Sustainable
Design for the Sugar Creek WWTP Expansion Project, Proceedings,
WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
For nearly
80 years the Sugar Creek WWTP has served the city of Charlotte, NC, and helped
balance the region’s significant economic boom with protection of water
quality. The recent plant expansion has been undertaken with incorporation
of sustainable design principles. For example the project will include wastewater
and stormwater management, LEED building design, energy efficiency, vegetative
buffers, stream and habitat restoration, community stakeholder input, and other
factors. To carry out this vision the approach includes representatives from
all relevant stakeholder groups. Site design includes green building principles.
Even the design process itself attempts to use such methods as teleconferencing,
carpooling, materials recycling, and energy conservation. The end result of
this study will show how to achieve more sustainable projects, using better
management practices to attain these ends.

Orphan, Lynn H. and Douglas W. Karafa, Adaptive
Management—Beyond
TMDLCompliance, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment
Federation, October 2008.
The
Boulder Basin Adaptive Management Program combines mandatory
and voluntary measures to manage effluent to meet water quality
objectives that go beyond NPDES and TMDL compliance for the
Las Vegas Valley and Lake Mead. The three wastewater agencies
in the Las Vegas Valley adopted a waste load allocation sharing
agreement in 1998. Wastewater is piped to a designated stream
under TMDL allowances. Further work with citizen advisory
groups was carried out to develop additional technological
steps. Environmental impact and other reviews were carried
out with all stakeholder involvement. By balancing monitoring
and modeling, results indicate that this kind of cooperation
can be used to manage water resources using available institutions.

Plastino, Michael, et al, The Pennsylvania
Wastewater and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis, Proceedings,
WEFTEC.08, Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
The national
gap analysis report was issued by EPA in 2002, to highlight the awareness of
the projected gap between wastewater and drinking water systems’ revenues
and needs over the next 20 years, and the resulting requirement to address
this shortfall. In early 2007, the State of Pennsylvania decided to develop
a state gap analysis to determine the extent and causes of the gap in the state.
The idea was to determine adjustments to local, state, and federal policies
to ensure long term sustainability of the state wastewater and drinking water
systems. To date, data collection is underway and will continue through part
of 2008. Other information needed will include asset management principles,
breakdown of revenues, structure of user charges, and rates. Affordability
data will be based on median household income. A number of communities are
to be interviewed, to better assess the situation with a reasonable degree
of accuracy. The results are expected to provide both the specific data for
the gap analysis and a model for future projects of similar scope.

Rehring, John, et al, Practical and Sustainable Water Supply:
Making the Most of WhatYou Have, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08,
Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
Water
providers throughout the country are seeking reliable, sustainable
water supplies to meet current and future demands. However,
capital costs of water acquisition and delivery infrastructure
can be enormous, and renewable supplies can be vulnerable
to drought and climate change induced changes in hydrology.
Utilities in the Rocky Mountain region have identified practical
approaches for renewable supplies through reuse of effluent
return flows, use of off-peak capacity in existing major
pipelines, and conjunctive use of surface water and ground
water supplies. Together, these measures will help address
increasing demands while enhancing dought-year reliability.

Roll,
Bruce and Bobby Cochran, Leveraging Ecosystem Markets
for Sustainability, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment
Federation, October 2008.
In
2007 there were 48 water quality trading programs around the
globe. Similar growth in market-based environmental policies
has occurred to meet climate change goals, mitigate wetland
loss, and promote recovery of endangered species. Advocates
of market-based approaches to environmental policies have espoused
the economic and environmental benefits of tradable emission
permits, credits, taxes, and other tools for more than 30 years.
Market tools have demonstrated successes, but they have also
raised concerns and some have not achieved their goals. Of
the 48 water quality trading programs around the world, only
21 are active, and even fewer have actually delivered a trade.
Many of these challenges do not stem from problems inherent
to markets, but instead point to design problems in both current
environmental policies and market structures. This paper presents
a framework for an ecosystem services marketplace, that attempts
to address these problems.

Schreiber, Robert P., et al, Toward Implementation of a National
Ground WaterMonitoring Network, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08,
Water Environment Federation, October 2008.
The
Advisory Committee on Water Information’s (ACWI) Subcommittee
on Ground Water (SOGW) has been working steadily to develop
and encourage implementation of a nationwide, long-term ground
water quantity and quality monitoring framework. Significant
progress includes the planned release of a framework document
in 2008, including recommendations for implementation of
the network, as well as continued acknowledgement at the
federal and state level of the role that ACWI can play in
national monitoring toward an improved assessment of the
nation’s water reserves. Future work includes developing
plans for concept testing, evaluation of costs and benefits,
and moving from pilot test results to full-scale implementation
within a reasonable time period.

Whitlock, Drury and Glen Daigger, Full Cost Accounting for
Wastewater Utilities, Proceedings, WEFTEC.08, Water Environment
Federation, October 2008.
An
important premise is that all waste products conveyed to
a facility should be considered a raw material that can be
converted into a product of value to society. Through the
evolution of modern economics, the social construct of valuation
of products is inherently accepted. Proposals exist asserting
that waste products should be analyzed first, so that they
can be reused to the greatest extent possible to create more
sustainable systems of commerce.